Tapit

In this edition of our ongoing mating plans series, we spoke with Marie Jones with additional notes from Katie Taylor and Doug Cauthen. Marie Jones is carrying on the successful breeding program that she first started with her late husband Aaron. Their program is responsible for Grade I winners and champions including Ashado, Speightstown, Drosselmeyer and Mrs. McDougal, as well as the dam of Life is Good. Today, her high-end, boutique operation focuses on acquiring accomplished, well-bred mares and maintaining a portfolio of shares and breeding rights in proven commercial...

A total of 312 sophomores were nominated for this year's Triple Crown series at the early nomination deadline of Jan. 29. The number of early nominations slipped 4.3%, or 14 horses, from last year's total of 326. The nominated group is led by Grade I winners Corniche (Quality Road), Jack Christopher (Munnings), Pinehurst (Twirling Candy) and Rattle N Roll (Connect). Echo Zulu (Gun Runner), winner of last year's GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies and likely 2-year-old champion female, is one of six fillies made eligible for the Triple Crown. Nominees...

Beginning his stud career at Taylor Made Stallions with a $10,000 initial fee, Tacitus (Tapit -Close Hatches, by First Defence) earned medalist status on Chris McGrath's 'Value Podium' of new stallions in 2022. Now, with the breeding shed door opening soon, the blue-blooded multi-millionaire has seen an enthusiastic response from breeders and has amassed a solid first book of mares. "He is booked to over 160 mares now," reported Taylor Made's Duncan Taylor. "We've been really satisfied with the reception from breeders. We're not taking every mare he gets offered....

Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency 6th-OP, $84K, Msw, 3yo, f, 6f, 3:51 p.m. ET The first of two strong-looking groups of sophomore fillies line up here in Hot Springs. Brad Cox-trained second timer Firewolves (Practical Joke) gets the tepid morning-line nod coming off a runner-up outing over track and trip Dec. 3 that earned her a 75 Beyer Speed Figure. The $140,000 Keeneland September yearling is half to MGSP Tap for Luck (Tapit) and to the dam of GSW/GISP Jeltrin (Tapizar). Peace Peddler (Gun Runner) set a solid pace in...

'TDN Rising Star' Essential Quality (Tapit--Delightful Quality, by  Elusive Quality), a leading Eclipse Award finalist for champion 3-year-old colt, heads to the breeding shed with an impressive line-up of mares for his first season at stud at Darley's Jonabell Farm in Kentucky. The 2020 champion 2-year-old colt and GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner continued to add to his loaded resume at three, capturing the GI Belmont S. and GI Runhappy Travers S. He concluded his career with a third-place finish against his elders in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic. The...

Halladay (War Front--Hightap, by Tapit), winner of the 2020 GI Fourstardave H., has been retired from racing and will stand the 2022 breeding season at Harris Farms in California as the property of a syndicate led by Adrian Gonzalez of Checkmate Thoroughbreds. He will stand for an introductory fee of $7,500, live foal stand and nurse guarantee, with shares available. Racing for Harrell Ventures and trainer Todd Pletcher, Halladay also won the 2019 Tropical Park Derby and 2020 Sunshine Forever S. On the board in 12 of 17 starts, the...

Third-crop sire Gem Heist (Street Cry {Ire}--Careless Jewel, by Tapit) has been relocated to stand at Rancho San Miguel in San Miguel, California for the 2022 breeding season. His fee is $2,500, live foal guarantee. The 10-year-old stallion previously stood at a private farm in Bakersfield, California as the property of the late horseman Bob Grayson, Sr. Grayson purchased Gem Heist for $100,000 from Eddie Woods' consignment at the 2014 Barretts March Sale of Selected 2-Year-Olds in Training. Gem Heist experienced a career-ending injury while preparing for his debut, and...

It's been a long time since I have been up at `dark thirty', but here I find myself happily strolling into Santa Anita Park at 4:30 in the morning--a far cry from nearly 10 years ago when I was galloping horses and would find myself running late whilst popping an Altoid and three Advil to quell the night-before activities. But here I am. Why? Because I asked John Sadler for a Flightline (Tapit) interview and of course, Flightline trains at 5 a.m. After a morning of carrots, coffee, and horses,...

4th-GP, $60k, Msw, 3yo, 6f, 1:27 p.m. ET Several in this race carry nice price tags but IRON WORKS (Distorted Humor) on the outside catches the eye first as a $550,000 purchase from last year's OBS April sale (:10 1/5) for MyRacehorse and Spendthrift Farm. The runner is a half to one other winner from GISP Silverpocketsfull (Indian Charlie), herself out of MGSP Unforgotten (Northern Afleet) and a half to another graded stakes-placed horse. Particular (Classic Empire) one down in the gate is part of the first 3-year-old crop for...

The well-bred Courvoisier (Tapit), a narrow maiden winner at fourth asking at the Big A last time Dec. 2, picked up 10 points for the GI Kentucky Derby while securing his second straight win in Saturday's sloppy $150,000 Jerome S. His third and second-place finishes in his first two starts respectively set the colt up for a move forward with the addition of blinkers Oct. 27 at Delaware Park, where he was caught late going a mile and lost by a nose. Stretching out to 1 1/8 miles for his...

As a year of unprecedented achievement draws to a close, the distribution of laurels among our champion stallions must first and foremost celebrate their sheer potency. For while we already know Into Mischief to be a phenomenon, he demands fresh admiration in sealing his third consecutive general sires' championship with a prizemoney haul just shy of $25 million, shattering the $22,507,940 record he set in his second; the work of 260 winners, similarly raising the bar giddily on the 221 who compiled his first. As the revelation of the year,...

Anchor Down (Tapit--Successful Outlook, by Orientate), a two-time graded winner at a mile and runner-up in the prestigious 2016 GI Mohegan Sun Metropolitan H., has been relocated to stand the 2022 season at Iowa State University. He began his career at stud at Gainesway in Kentucky. From two crops of racing age, Anchor Down, a $250,000 KEESEP yearling, is the sire of 22 winners and six stakes horses. Produced by GSW Successful Outlook, Anchor Down is a half-brother to GISW Sweet Lulu (Mr. Greeley) and a full-brother to GSW Iron...